1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to boats and/or yachts, specifically to a device for assisting in cleaning dirty waterlines on boats.
2. Prior Art
The main reason such a product is necessary is that current methods for cleaning waterlines on yachts take nearly a day to complete. The waterlines on yachts are likely to always be dirty. Because of the constant changing environment yachts are in, the waterline is always subject to oil, fuel, and mud turned up in the harbors. As well, the environment boats are in is unstable, including but not limited to; waves, currents, winds, etc. causing the waterlines to be in need of constant attention. A waterline can be recently cleaned and a few moments later a boat comes in and turns up the bottom mud and waves wash the mud onto your freshly cleaned waterline that is now dirty. Dirty enough that spraying the hose will not remove the dirt from the waterline. A waterline might be cleaned once a week depending on the crew. With my product, the waterline can be cleaned efficiently and effectively everyday in a reduced amount of time. There are approximately four main methods of cleaning:    a) Launch a small boat or dinghy into the water. Have one human operate the dinghy while another human operates the scrub brush. The disadvantages here are; Two people are needed to perform the task of cleaning the waterline. There is risk of bumping into the yacht because both boats will be within close proximity of about 8 ft. or less. The dinghy needs to be taken out of the water, flushed clean with freshwater, washed, and stored away properly; which might include hoisting it back onto the yacht and properly securing it. The method is time consuming and takes at minimum two people.    b) Use a telescoping pole. This method only works for boats up to approximately 50 ft in length. The telescoping pole brushes extend approximately 15 to 20 ft. This much length causes a great lever arm effect to the user and causes much back strain. The user can clean from the dock or on the boat itself. If on the boat, the user must bend over the railing and risk falling into the water, as well as, work twice as hard to clean the waterline because of the mechanical disadvantage created by the extended length. Furthermore, the shape of the bows on most larger boats in excess of 50 ft. allow for no access to the waterline from above.    c) Use a floating dock. This method takes three people for it to be anywhere near efficient. Two people must hold the floating dock at all times while the third person scrubs the waterline. If only one person were to hold the floating dock, a torque steer would be created when scrubbing is applied. It is a lot easier to apply a push force than it is to hold onto a boat hull with no positive gripping places. Therefore, two people are needed to hold on. Many times, there is no place to grab onto and two people need to paddle while the third person scrubs.    d) Go into the water. This method is more efficient than methods 1, 2, and 3 yet is favored the least. Going into the water puts the human at risk. Some harbors are polluted and no one wants to go into the water. Some boats discharge raw sewage into water, not allowed, but it happens; hopefully the person cleaning the waterline is not in the water at this time. Boats are constantly coming into the docks and this puts the person in the water at danger. A person must always be on watch looking out for incoming boats and signaling them that there is a person in the water. Furthermore, the side of the boat facing the dock is extremely dangerous for a person to clean because they risk being crushed in-between the dock and boat.
All these methods work, yet are time consuming, require two or more people, and are mentally and physically stressful to the user who has to scrub. A great improvement can be made to cleaning waterlines and all boaters can benefit.
3. Objects and Advantages
Accordingly, besides the objects and advantages of the remote waterline cleaner described in my above patent, several objects and advantages of my invention are:                (a) to provide a remote waterline cleaner which can be used by one person and eliminate the possibility of a small boat damaging the yachts hull from banging into it because of the unstable environment;        (b) to provide a remote waterline cleaner which takes the physical work itself and has the capability of maneuvering to problem areas which can not be reached by a telescoping brush.        (c) to provide a remote waterline cleaner which eliminates the need of using a floating dock to get to areas otherwise not accessible from the boat or dock and reduce the amount of manpower needed.        (d) to provide a remote waterline cleaner which allows the user to operate from the boat or dock and not go into a hazardous environment.        
Further objects and advantages are to provide a remote waterline cleaner which can be used easily and conveniently to remove the scum off boat waterlines, which is constructed of corrosion resistant materials, which provides sufficient force for cleaning those heavy areas where the scum has built up, which applies soap and water for cleaning, which has an onboard camera for areas where visibility is impaired, which has a microcontroller for a fully automatic operation, which has sensors to provide signals to the microcontroller, which has dimensions small enough to fit through entrance doors and would inherently be small and light enough to be carried by an average man, and which is remote controlled. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.